1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, scanners, facsimile machines, and multifunction machines; image processing methods; and recording media such as SD memory cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
In these years, multifunction machines having a copying function, a printing function, a scanning function, and a facsimile function are commercially available. The multifunction machine prints an image on printing paper in the case of functioning as a copier or printer, reads an image from original material such as a document in the case of functioning a copier or scanner, and exchanges an image with another apparatus through a telephone line in the case of functioning a facsimile machine. Such a multifunction machine is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-84383.
In these years, various programs are installed in the multifunction machine. In the multifunction machine, these programs should be updated in some cases, for example, in the case of extending the functions of the machine or correcting bugs of the programs. In the conventional multifunction machine, usually, a program is updated at the time of starting the machine. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is necessary to restart the machine in order to update a program. If the machine is manually restarted, a restarting operation is forced upon a user, thus imposing an operational work load on the user. However, if the machine is automatically restarted, the restarting operation is performed without the user knowing it, thus psychologically making things uncomfortable for the user.